Inside your head
by Ghost
Summary: Vader is wrestling with his emotions when some old acquaintances pays him a visit. This is just a short fic I wrote in haste.


Inside your head

By Ghost

Note: Takes place right after TESB. Please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi or any other character that appears in this fic. They belong to The Great Lucas, may the Force be with him, always.

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Lord Darth Vader looked at the empty space were the Millennium Falcon just disappeared. Somehow they must have managed to fix the hyperdrive. He no longer felt the presence of his son.

Son.

The word felt unfamiliar. He had not thought of Luke as his son until now. When he had done some research about the boy, and found out about Tatooine, Owen and Beru had had been surprised, but he had still thought of the young warrior as an enemy or possibly an ally, never as a real son.

He gave one last look to admiral Piett, who looked nervous. Vader thought of strangling him, but he knew it had not been his fault and for some reason Vader was not able to summon the anger that usually lived inside of him. He simply turned and walked out of the bridge. 

__

"Why did I not kill Luke?" Vader thought as he walked the corridors of the Executor. He wanted to believe that it was because of Luke's powers, but deep inside he doubted.

He felt relief when he arrived to his personal chambers. He sat down in his chair and was just about to close the large cubicle when he hesitated and let his hand fall. Feelings he did not like was trying to claw their way out of him.

"Son," he said, almost as a sigh.

"Were you surprised?" a familiar voice asked. Vader quickly turned towards the place were it had come from. 

In a corner, coming towards him, a old man came. The man was slightly transparent and irradiated a blue aura.

"Master Obi-Wan?" Vader said, but then he turned his gaze to the floor. "Why have you come, old man?"

"You tell me, Anakin," Obi-Wan said.

"I am Darth Vader now."

The blue ghost sighed. "Yes, unfortunately you are. But Luke is still your son. Are you sure that you do not care for him?"

"I am," Vader said. "Now leave me, you are dead and one with the force. Go!"

Obi-Wan disappeared into thin air, just as he had done when Vader's blade cut through him back on the Deathstar. But almost before he was gone, another voice was heard from the other end of the room.

"If you are so sure, why do you suppress your emotions?"

Vader turned again, only to face yet another shining blue figure.

"Qui-Gon?" Vader said, surprised. He had not seen the old Jedi since he was a small and naive child. "Why have you come, do as your padawan and leave me alone."

Qui-Gon laughed silently. "Leave you alone, Ani? We will never leave you. We are inside your head! Even when you can not see or hear us we will always be there."

Vader rose and walked past the incarnation of the dead Jedi. When passing him, Vader made a gesture with his hand as if he tried to disperse a cloud of smoke. His hand went strait through Qui-Gon. "Go away," he said, facing the wall.

"Away?" yet another voice said. Vader turned and as the shining image of Qui-Gon disappeared, another one took form next to him. This one was a dark figure, dressed in a black cloak and robes. His aura was not blue as Obi-Wan's or Qui-Gon's, but crimson red, as blood. 

"Away to were, Darth Vader?" Darth Maul said and smiled. His yellow eyes shined of evil. Palpatine had told Vader about his former apprentice, and he remembered the demon-like sith from his childhood. "We are all one with the force now, we are everywhere, and as Qui-Gon said, you will never get rid of us! Good or evil, you will never get rid of us."

"Stop it, you old phantoms!" Vader hissed. "Stop tormenting me!"

"Never," Maul continued and grinned as he slowly disappeared. His voice was the last thing to leave. _"Never… Never… Never…"_

Vader sat down, the ghosts were gone. He tried to calm down. The emotions inside him started to melt away until he was his old self again, Darth Vader.

"Anakin Skywalker is dead," he said to himself. Then he pushed a button on his chair, which turned around, making him face the viewscreen. The picture of Admiral Piett appeared.

"Yes, Lord Vader?" Piett said, still looking nervous. 

"Admiral, calculate every possible destination along the Millennium Falcon's last know trajectory.  
"I have already done so, my lord," Piett answered. "Awaiting your order to deploy the fleet."

"Do so," Vader said. "Do not let them escape again."

"As you wish, my lord," Piett said, and then the screen went blank. 

Vader pushed another button and the cubicle started to lower itself towards him.

__

"I will find you, Luke," he thought. _"And I will turn you to the Dark Side."_

The cubicle closed shut and all was silent in Lord Vader's chambers.


End file.
